“ We have weapons to win ”: the manager of Italy sounded bullish before England the confrontation

Italy scraped the group phase and needed a last-minute goal to beat Norway in the last eight, but coach Andrea Soncin thinks that his team has what it takes to beat the champions by reigning in England in their Euro 2025 women’s semi-finals on Tuesday.

Soncin and his team talked about their big dreams during this tournament and how to overcome it adversity brought them together, and they are convinced that they can beat the Sarina Wiegman team and obtain a first appearance in the final since 1997.

“We have succeeded very well in this event. There is a lot of courage, conscience and serenity. This is what accompanied us throughout the event”, “ Soncin told journalists on Monday.

“We are convinced that we have the weapons to win the game, and we have the greatest respect for the quality of English players and their international experience.”

England survived a breathtaking penalty shootout which saw only five of the 14 spot kicks marked while they beat Sweden 3-2 in the quarter-finals, and Soncin said that it was practically impossible to reproduce the pressure of a training shooting.

“I do not believe that there is a specific way to train penalties in a training session because there is the emotional aspect and also the physical aspect which comes into play, but especially the emotional aspect, which is not the same during a training session”. he explained.

“Of course, we, like everyone else, try to … also train penalties so that we are ready for anything. Our goal is to reach the final.”

The defender of Soncin and Italy, Cecilia Salvai, who also attended the press conference, offered their support for Jess Carter in England, who withdrew from social media because of the racial abuses she received during the tournament.

“It is a cultural campaign (against racism), a cultural battle that we must all fight together. I do not know if taking the knee is enough to change this, but for sure, there is maximum solidarity on our side, we are ready to participate in any campaign to avoid this abuse,” said Soncin.

“I hope she can play this match 100% because it’s a semi-final, so I hope she can try to detach herself a little from this episode.

“Of course, she is not the first which was the victim of these abuses, and we have the greatest solidarity for her,” Salvai added.

Germany faces Spain in the other semi-final on Wednesday.

Follow the European Women’s Championship with Flashscore.